I am sometimes terribly discouraged

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 27 November 1882

But I tell you that dissatisfaction about bad work, the failure of things, the difficulties of technique can make one dreadfully melancholy. I can assure you that I am sometimes terribly discouraged when I think of Millet, Israels, Breton, de Groux, so many others, Herkomer for instance; one only knows what these fellows are worth when one is oneself at work. And then to swallow that despair and that melancholy, to bear with oneself as one is, not in order to sit down and rest but to struggle on notwithstanding thousands of shortcomings and faults and the doubtfulness of conquering them, all these things are the reason why a painter is not happy either.

The struggle with oneself, the trying to better oneself, the renewal of one's energy, all this is complicated by material difficulties.

Letter 248
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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"Blessed is he who has found his work"

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 27 November 1882

At times all nature seems to speak, and on going home one has a feeling of the same sort as when one has finished a book by Victor Hugo, for instance. As for me, I cannot understand that not everybody sees it and feels it, nature or God does it for everyone who has eyes and ears and a heart to understand. For this reason I think a painter is happy because he is in harmony with nature as soon as he can express a little of what he sees.

And that's a great thing, one knows what one has to do, there are subjects in abundance, as Carlyle rightly says, "Blessed is he who has found his work."

Letter 248
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The existence of "something on high"

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 27 November 1882

Now I have witnessed everything, the transfer on to the stone, the preparation of the stone and the printing itself. . . . After a time I hope to do better, this doesn't satisfy me at all, but well, the progress must come by work and trying. It seems to me the duty of a painter to try to put an idea into his work. In this print I have tried to express (but I cannot do it well, or so strikingly as it is in reality, of which this is but a weak reflection in a dark mirror) what seems to me one of the strongest proofs of the existence of "something on high" in which Millet believed, namely, the existence of God and eternity - certainly in the infinitely touching expression of such a little old man, of which he himself is perhaps unconscious, when he is sitting quietly in his corner by the fire.

Letter 248
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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"The faith of the coalminer"

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 24 November 1882

I'm afraid, Theo, that many who have sacrificed the old for the sake of the new will be very sorry for it in the end. Especially in the realm of art.

In short, there used to be a body of painters, authors, artists, who were united, notwithstanding their differences, and they were a force. They did not walk in the dark but were enlightened: they certainly knew what they wanted, and they did not waver. I'm talking about the time when Corot, Millet, Daubigny, Jacque, Breton, were young; in Holland, Israels, Mauve, Maris, etc.

One supported the other, there was something strong and noble in it. The art galleries were smaller then; in the studios there was perhaps a greater abundance than now - as the beautiful things are soon snapped up. Those crammed studios, those smaller show windows, but above all, "the faith of the coalminer" of the artists - their warmth, their fire, their enthusiasm - how sublime they were. Neither you nor I witnessed it exactly, but our love for that period brings us nearer to it. Let's not forget it, it may be of use, especially if one continues to say so readily, "We don't need that any more."

Letter 247
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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"We don't need that any more"

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 24 November 1882

It is easier to say, as Mesdag did of a certain picture by Heyerdahl, painted with the same sentiment as that of Murillo or Rembrandt, which he didn't want to buy from you, "Oh, that's the old style - we don't need that any more," than it is to replace that old style by something as good, let alone something superior.

And as many people these days argue the same way as Mesdag, without thinking much about it, it can do no harm if others reflect whether we are in this world to tear down instead of build up. The expression "We don't need that any more" - how readily it is used, and what a stupid and ugly phrase it is. In one of his fairy tales Andersen puts it, I think, not in a human being's mouth, but in an old pig's.

Letter 247
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Something of the Brabant fields

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 24 November 1882

How well constructed Zola's "Pot-Bouille" is, and how bitter the words it closes with: "Nowadays all firms are worth the same, the one is equal to the other, everywhere it is Swine and Co." Don't you think Octave Mouret, really the principal figure, can be considered typical of those persons whom you recently wrote about, if you remember? . . .

He is satisfied when he can readily sell his bales of "nouveautes" unloading his bales of goods on the sidewalks of Paris; he doesn't seem to have any other aspiration except the conquest of women, and yet he does not really love them, for Zola perceives correctly, I think, when he says, "where his contempt for women broke through." . . .

Could he have done otherwise? - perhaps not, but you and I can and must act differently, I think. For we have our roots in a different kind of family life than Mouret, and besides, I hope there will always remain in us something of the Brabant fields and heath, which years of city life will not be able to wipe out, especially as it is renewed and strengthened by art.

Letter 247
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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How beautiful an old workman is

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 24 November 1882

Today and yesterday I drew two figures of an old man sitting with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Long ago Schuitemaker sat for me, and I kept the drawing because I wanted to make a better one someday. Perhaps I will also make a lithograph of it. How beautiful such an old workman is, with his patched fustian clothes and his bald head.

Letter 247
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I see in work the only safety

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 22 November 1882

When your last letter came, after having had to wait so long, I had to pay so much at once that little was left. However, I have made those two experiments in lithography again, notwithstanding the expense, because especially in hard times I see in work the only safety, and I will fight to get ahead.

But today or tomorrow all my money will be gone. If it is possible for you to send something, do so, if not, it is neither your fault nor mine - but the days will be hard. Well, nevertheless, we must keep heart as long as we can, and not give away to melancholy or weakness. . . .

Even if you don't have the money, boy, do write, for I need your sympathy, which is not worth less to me than the money.

Letter 246
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Your conscience as an artist

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 16 November 1882

I want to speak to you about your "big decoration" and "menu," and I will say only this, Old fellow, you'd better do something else; it's dangerous navigation. You know where you begin, but you don't know whether you'll have the power to stop. Once you have got the reputation of being able to do something for "festive occasions," there will never be a "festive occasion" without your being the victim. . . . This is the time for campaigning; at least a time when a campaign can be undertaken. . . .

The more you make menus and decorations for festive occasions - however nice or well done they may be - the less you will remain at peace with your conscience as an artist. And the more you devote yourself to serious toiling and moiling, the more you will feel that though this toiling and moiling may not score an immediate success, it has its raison d'etre.

Letter R19
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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"For you, the public"

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 16 November 1882

I cannot agree with what you say about the way the public looks at things, namely being struck by faulty drawing before seeing the character. I do believe, however, that a relatively small part of the public looks at pictures in exactly the way you describe, but not the big crowd to whom Herkomer says, "For you, the public, it is really done" - at least that's what I think.

Letter R19
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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March quickly

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 16 November 1882

I should like to write at greater length about your statement, "One should only put something before the world if that something fulfills the strictest demands of technique." That is what the art dealers say too, and I do not believe what they say. Think it over a little - that would save me the trouble of writing about it - and ask yourself whether it is not just as permissible to put a drawing like this one, just as is drawn from the model without any subsequent retouching, before the world (although I admit that there is some faulty drawing in it), as it is for me to go out into the street in my work clothes if I think it convenient, and without having to plant myself before a mirror to see if there's something the matter with my attire before I leave the house. If you admit that these things are similar, though you yourself would do neither, then the question remains whether it is not often more advisable during a campaign to march quickly than to smarten oneself up.

Letter R19
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The 50 francs are damn well lost

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 16 November 1882

Bitterly though I regret that your letter of November 9 and the enclosed banknote got lost, I was glad there was no other reason for your letter's failure to arrive. For I can assure you, I was awfully anxious. . . . Let us hope it will be found, but I dare not count on it, and I fear the 50 francs are damn well lost, just at the moment when they are almost indispensable to me. In the first place, to make progress in the experiments with lithography. I am very glad that you liked those which I sent first . . . .

The loss of those 50 francs (for I fear they are gone) thwarts you as well as me in making those experiments, but let's not be discouraged.

Letter 245
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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No result could please me more

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 16 November 1882

I do not know whether you will think me conceited when I tell you that the following pleased me very much. Smulder's workmen at the other store on the Laan saw the stone of the old man from the almshouse, and asked the printer if they could have a copy to hang on the wall. No result of my work could please me more than when ordinary working people hang such prints in their room or workshop.

I think what Herkomer said, It is really done for you - the public, is true. Of course a drawing must have artistic value, but in my opinion this doesn't prevent the man in the street from finding something in it.

Letter 245
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The public’s hands

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 14 November 1882

I don't think it improbable that some time I shall make things which will come into the public's hands, but it leaves me rather cold, and I don't consider it a pleasure at all.

Two reasons would force me to it. In the first place, if I became employed by a magazine, then of course I should have to do what is required. In the second place - something which may come later, but which I have certainly thought about already - if sooner or later I should have something which forms a whole and has a purpose and expresses something, I would certainly publish it . . . .

Such a thing would probably cost me money rather than bring money in; it would be for art's sake, not primarily for profit.

Letter 244
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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A need for something infinite

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 5 November 1882

How much good walking out to the desolate seashore and gazing out at the grey-green sea with the long white crests on its waves can do for a man who is downcast and dejected! But if one should have a need for something great, something infinite, something one can perceive God in, there is no need to go far in quest; it seems to me that I have seen something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression in a small child's eyes when it awakens early in the morning and yells or laughs on finding the dear sun shining upon its cradle. If ever a "beam shines down from above," that may be where it is to be found.

Letter 242
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I see expression and soul

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 5 November 1882

Today I have been working on old drawings from Etten, because in the fields I saw the pollard willows in the same leafless condition again, and it reminded me of what I saw last year. Sometimes I have such a longing to do landscape, just as I crave a long walk to refresh myself; and in all nature, for instance in trees, I see expression and soul, so to speak. A row of pollard willows sometimes resembles a procession of almshouse men. Young corn has something inexpressibly pure and tender about it, which awakens the same emotion as the expression of a sleeping baby, for instance. The trodden grass at the roadside looks tired and dusty like the people of the slums. A few days ago, when it had been snowing, I saw a group of Savoy cabbages standing frozen and benumbed, and it reminded me of a group of women in their thin petticoats and old shawls which I had seen standing in a little hot water-and-coal shop early in the morning.

Letter 242
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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A fire that I may not quench

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 5 November 1882

I feel a power in me which I must develop, a fire that I may not quench, but must keep ablaze, though I do not know to what end it will lead me, and shouldn't be surprised if it were a gloomy one. In times like these, what should one wish for?

What is relatively the happiest fate?

In some circumstances it is better to be the conquered than to be the conqueror - for instance, better to be Prometheus than Jupiter. Well, it is an old saying, "Let come what may."

Letter 242
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Though disappointed by circumstances

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 5 November 1882

When you say in your last letter, “What a mystery nature is,” I quite agree with you. Life in the abstract is already an enigma; reality makes it an enigma within an enigma. And who are we to solve it? However, we ourselves are an atom of that universe which makes us wonder: Where does it go, to the devil or to God ?

Yet the sun rises, says Victor Hugo. Long, long ago I read in L'Ami Fritz by Erckmann-Chatrian a saying of the old rabbi's, which I have always remembered: "We are not in life to be happy, but we must try to deserve happiness." Taken separately, there is something pedantic in this thought - at least, one might take it as such - but in the context in which the words occurred, that is, from the mouth of that sympathetic figure of the old rabbi, David Sechel, they touched me deeply, and I often think of them. Similarly in drawing, one must not count on selling one's drawings, but it is one's duty to make them so that they have a certain value and are serious; one must not become careless or indifferent even though disappointed by circumstances.

Letter 242
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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A kind of dissatisfaction with oneself

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 2 November 1882

Of course one always feels, and one must feel, when at work, a kind of dissatisfaction with oneself, a longing to do it much better; but still it is delightful and comforting little by little to get a collection of all kinds of figures together, though the more one makes the more one wants to make.

Letter 241
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Work, even with a sorrowful heart

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 2 November 1882

Now in the realm of art the summit has been reached. Certainly we shall still see beautiful things in the years to come, but anything more sublime than we have seen already - no. And I for my part am afraid that perhaps in a few years there will be a kind of panic in this regard. Since Millet we have greatly deteriorated; the word decadence, now whispered or pronounced in covert terms, will then sound as an alarm bell. Many an one, for instance I myself, keeps quiet now because one is already labeled as an awkward customer, and to speak about it doesn't help. Speaking about it, that is to say, is not what one ought to do, one must work, even if it be with a sorrowful heart; those who will subsequently cry the hardest about decadence will be the most decadent themselves. I repeat - "By these fruits ye shall know them," by their work, nor will it be the most eloquent who will say the truest things, look at Millet himself, look at Herkomer; they are indeed no orators and they speak almost with regret.

Letter 241
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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“What's the use?”

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

Perhaps you think this tedious - but it all came fresh into my thoughts again. I had collected and mounted my hundred studies, and when I had finished the job, a rather melancholy feeling of "what's the use?" came over me. But then those energetic words of Herkomer's, urging the public not to flag and saying that it is more necessary than ever to keep the hand to the plough, comforted me so, and I thought I would give you a short summary of what he said.

Letter 240
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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A warm heart for his fellow men

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

What I appreciate in Herkomer, Fildes, Holl and the other founders of the Graphic, the reason why they still mean more to me than Gavarni and Daumier, and will continue to, is that while the latter seem to look on society with malice, the former - as well as men like Millet, Breton, De Groux, Israels - chose subjects which are as true as Gavarni's or Daumier's, but have something noble and a more serious sentiment. That sentiment especially must remain, I think. An artist needn't be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men. I think it very noble, for instance, that no winter passed without the Graphic doing something to arouse sympathy for the poor. For example, I have a page by Woodville representing a distribution of peat tickets in Ireland; another by Staniland called "Help the Helpers," representing various scenes in a hospital which was short of money; "Christmas in the Workhouse" by Herkomer; "Homeless and Hungry" by Fildes, etc. I like them better than the drawings by Bertall, or the like, for the Vie Elégante.

Letter 240
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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What one sees on the street every day

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

The answer that many a painter here in Holland gives to the question “What is a wood engraving?” is, “They are those things you find in the South Holland Café.”

So they class them with the drinks. And those who make them, perhaps with the drunkards.

And what do the dealers say? Suppose I took a hundred sketches which I happen to have collected to any dealer here; I fear that the only answer I should get would be, “Did you really expect these things to have any market value?”

My love and respect for the great draughtsmen, those of Gavarni's time as well as those of the present, increases the more I come to know their work, and especially since I myself try to make something of what one sees on the street every day.

Letter 240
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The highest, noblest calling

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

I say that it is a great pity there is little or no enthusiasm here for the art which is most suitable for the general public.

If the painters combined to see that their work (which in my opinion is, after all, made for the people - at least I think this is the highest, noblest calling for any artist to pursue) could indeed come into the public's hands and was brought within everybody’s reach, it could produce the same results as those achieved during the Graphic’ first years.

This year Neuhuys, Van der Velden and a few others made drawings for The Swallow, a monthly magazine which costs 7 1/2 cents. . . . I hear that this magazine cannot keep going any more than its predecessors. Why not? The booksellers say there is no profit in it, and instead of trying to increase the circulation, they keep it down.

And I think that the painters, for their part, do not take the matter strongly enough to heart.

Letter 240
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Honest drawing is no longer wanted

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

The managers, Herkomer says, ask for things that are done for effect; correct and honest drawing is no longer wanted, complete designs are no longer in demand. . . .

Then he comes to the artists, and says how he regrets that nowadays it is all too often the wood engraver and not the draughtsman who makes the pages beautiful. He urges the artists not to permit this, to draw soberly and vigorously, so that the engraver remains what he should be: the interpreter of the draughtsman's work, not his master.

Then his conclusion follows, a strong admonition to all to put their hearts into the job, and not to allow themselves to weaken. . . .

The whole thing is thoroughly sound, strong, honest. . . . To me it is an inspiration, and it does my heart good to hear someone talk this way.

Letter 240
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Be prepared to be misunderstood

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

We must not have any illusions about ourselves, but be prepared to be misunderstood, despised and slandered, and yet - even if things become worse than they are now - we shall have to keep up our courage and enthusiasm. I believe it would be a good thing for us to focus our attention on the men and works of former days, say some twenty or thirty years ago, as otherwise it will be justly said of us afterward, “Rappard and Vincent may also be reckoned among the decadent fellows.” This is a harsh dictum, but I mean every bit of it, and I shall go my own way without paying much attention to the present school.

Letter R17
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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What is said of our work

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

Which induces me to repeat my congratulations for your having been refused by Arti. If you made a great hit under the present circumstances, I should feel less respect and sympathy for you than I do now. I certainly see very clearly that you and I will undoubtedly produce much better work than we do now, and that our present work is not bad. Our attitude toward ourselves must remain stern, and we must be energetic, but there isn't a single reason why we should let ourselves be discouraged or put out by what is said of our work by people who believe they know a better style than the one we have adopted, namely drawing, or trying to draw, what strikes us in domestic life, in the street, or in a hospital, etc. If you knew, for instance, what De Groux has suffered from criticism and ill will, it would stagger you.

Letter R17
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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“Unpleasant, quarrelsome nonentities”

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

Those “rising men” of today are not what the “rising men” of the previous generation were - more effect and less quality nowadays. I have written about this more than once. I also see a difference between the personalities of the respective “rising men.” You know yourself, and you yourself suffer under it, that they look upon you and me as unpleasant, quarrelsome nonentities, and that above all they consider us ponderous and boring in our work and in our persons.

Letter R17
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Art has no worse enemies

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 1 November 1882

I abhor words like “pleasing” and “saleable” - they are as bad as the plague - yet I've never met a dealer who wasn't saturated with them. Art has no worse enemies, despite the fact that the managers of the big art-dealing establishments reputedly deserve high praise for their protection of artists.

They don't do the right thing - yet because the public turns to them and not to the artists themselves, the latter are forced to turn to them too - but there isn't a single artist who does not resent them, openly or secretly. They flatter the public, encouraging its worst, most barbaric inclinations and taste. But enough of this! The conclusion that you and I should draw is, Draw austerely, be serious, be honest.

Letter R17
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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